House Advances Motorcycle Helmet Repeal

The House of Representatives has given first-round approval to House Bill 576 with several amendments. The legislation would allow most motorcyclists age 21 or older to ride without wearing a helmet, with some caveats concerning experience, training and insurance coverage.

Committee Revises Right To Shop Proposal

A state Senate legislative committee has approved a scaled-back version of the so-called “Right to Shop” legislation. The new version of Senate Bill 245 applies only to the Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan, which provides coverage for state employees. The requirements for providers to furnish additional price transparency data also were deleted. The underlying proposal permits enrollees to share in the savings if negotiated payments are less than the insurer’s average reimbursement.

The first quarter federal fiscal year 2017 inpatient and outpatient databases, including HIDI-reporting Hospitals in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas City, Kan., are available for download to subscribers of the Premier Data Package on HIDI Analytic Advantage.® The databases consist of a patient-level limited dataset, including all HIDI-reported discharges and visits to hospitals. Files are delivered as both text files and ready-to-query Microsoft Access database files. The files are located in the “Strategic Planning/Premier Data” folder and are organized in the following categories.

Q1 FFY2017, Inpatient

Q1 FFY2017, Outpatient Classified

Q1 FFY2017, Outpatient Unclassified

Hospitals interested in subscribing to the 2017 HIDI Premier Data Package should review the package information. Current subscribers with questions about downloading files should contact HIDI.

CMS Updates EHR Known Issues Documents

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has updated the known issues document associated with the electronic health record program. The document has been updated with issue resolutions and newly identified issues, and is available on QualityNet.

CMS Announces Education Session

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has scheduled an outreach and education session for hospitals participating in the hospital inpatient quality reporting and hospital value-based purchasing programs at 1 p.m., Tuesday, April 11. The webinar, titled “Hospital IQR & VBP Programs: Claims-Based Measures Hospital Specific Report Overview and Updates,” will provide a summary of national rates and performance categories used in the IQR program; details on receiving HSRs; a review of claims-based measure calculations and reading of HSRs; and the process of submitting a review and corrections request. Registration is required.

HRSA Accepts Applications For Nursing Scholarships

The Health Resources and Services Administration is accepting applications for the 2017 Nurse Corps Scholarship Program through Thursday, May 11. Students accepted or enrolled in a diploma, associate, baccalaureate or graduate degree nursing program can receive funding for tuition, fees and other educational costs. Graduates must work at an eligible facility with a critical shortage of nurses. A program guide and recorded webinar are available for additional information.

MHA Submits Second Request To WPS

MHA has submitted a second request to Wisconsin Physicians Services on behalf of its member hospitals. MHA requests that WPS delay implementing a new policy that requires hospital sleep labs to obtain a separate accreditation. A delay would give hospitals and accrediting organizations the time necessary to complete the accreditation process.

Consider This ...

Today has been designated Safe Haven for Newborns Day in Kansas City, Mo. At least 47 babies have been saved under the Safe Haven law in Missouri since the law went into effect in 2003, and Kansas reports at least eight babies have been saved since 2006.